There are many memories in Stanley Dabrowski’s New Britain home: Memories of war, captured in the memorabilia, medals and photos that hang on his walls. They tell his personal story of surviving one of the bloodiest battles of World War II – the battle of Iwo Jima.
“Thirty days of brutal, unrelenting combat,” the corpsman recalls.
But there are also tender memories as well, particularly of his late wife of 62 years. Wanda Dabrowski was an avid quilter. After her death in 2013, Stanley didn’t want Wanda’s massive fabric collection to go waste.
“I decided that the best place for all that fabric would be the Quilts of Valor,” he explains.
The nonprofit Quilts of Valor is a worldwide network of volunteers on a mission to honor veterans and active duty military personnel by presenting them with handmade patriotic quilts. The organization was founded in 2003 by a Delaware “blue star” mother when her son deployed to Iraq as a Humvee gunner.
“So she turned to her sewing machine as many of us do in times of stress and she made a quilt,” explains Jane Dougherty, co-coordinator of the Connecticut chapter.
To date, more than 120,000 quilts have been crafted and presented to wounded warriors in military hospitals, to units coming home from overseas, and to individual veterans on the home front. But no matter how or where they’re given, the impact is always powerful.
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“You wrap your veteran in the quilt,” says Dougherty, describing a typical quilt presentation ceremony. “You give them a hug. And particularly if it’s a Vietnam vet, the very first thing you say is ‘welcome home.’ And there are tears. And a lot of vets won’t let go.”
“When you give someone a quilt, you’re giving them a little piece of yourself because you’ve put all that time into it,” explains Cindy Guendert of Bristol, who turned to quilting as a creative outlet after retiring from her job. “If I can do something that’s going to bring some comfort and some healing to someone who’s been through something that I can’t imagine how awful it was… it gives it meaning, instead of just sewing pieces of fabric together.
It’s a comforting way to say “thank you.” And for Stanley – who received a quilt of his own at a presentation at the Iwo Jima memorial in Newington – it’s a way for Wanda’s love to live on.
“I am positive that if and when one of these warriors receive a quilt, he realizes that it was something done just for them, by somebody by hand, with so much love,” says Dabrowski. “It really is a wonderful thing.”
Quilts of Valor’s Connecticut chapter holds Sew Days throughout the year for interested volunteers. For more information email jane.dougherty@QOVF.org or visit http://www.qovf.org/.
